What would have happened if... (Ruffian/Barbaro question)?

Question

I know this won't happen, but what if Ruffian's owners had saved some of her eggs and Barbaro's owners had saved some of his sperm and combined them? Considering the speed that both Ruffian and Barbaro showed on the track, the foal would most likely be a speed demon, don't you think? Wouldn't it be neat if this could have happened?

Answer 1

Well, since this is a hypothetical question, AI being illegal is irrelevant. Not only would a 'perfect hypothetical' foal have terrific speed it would also have a dang high endurance rating through Barbaro's lineage. Also, although this isn't typically a consideration, the foal would be one h**l of a good looking one. Ruffian was one of the most beautiful fillies ever seen.(not talking about her conformation but simply a beautiful animal) And Barbaro was one handsome colt. I mean, take a look at a picture of each of them!

I hope you enjoy your answers. This was a fun question to answer...

Answer 2

Why is artificial insemination illegal?

Answer 3

like all great foals...it would run up the track in each of it's races. and end up at turf paradise.

Answer 4

it could happen

Answer 5

That would be one fast horse. both ruffian and barbaro never lost one race.

Answer 6

In breeding Thoroughbreds, artificial insemination is not legal. And there is a lot of research that goes into trying to determine the best matings, so what may appear as a perfect match due to great success on the track may not be even considered in the breeding shed.

Answer 7

well yes it wouldn've been awsome! but, yes it will never happen. but breeding horses cells  that way is not like "the way" the horses (especially thoroughbred race horses) should be bred AT ALL. doing it that way could cause the horses something wrong in the brain or around the body. that is why they did not take any sperm from Barbaro to give to another mare. because yes, it is ellagle and the foul being born would probably have somthing wrong with it.

but yes, if they could just invent some machine like that, it would be so cool! to see little Barbians or Ruffaros running around. lol, as in like Barbaro and Ruffian, there names like combined...............um, yup

HaVe A gOoD wEeK!!!!

-mel

Answer 8

The Jockey Club, which controls the stud book for Thoroughbreds and writes the rules for registration, refuses to allow the registration of any horse not begotten by a natural cover and is gestated wholly in the body of the mare in which it is conceived.  No artificial insemination (AI), no embryo transfer.  (A natural cover may be immediately reinforced with AI from the "dismount" spillage of the stallion as he comes off the mare, and some farms do use this.)

Various rationales have been given for this, including protecting the interests of small-farm stallion owners (if AI was permitted, a single ejaculate from a stallion could be divided into 5 to 10 inseminations, depending on the sperm count, motility, morphology and ejaculate volume of the stallion; and so a stallion could, theoretically, inseminate up to 1,000+ mares per year.  That would drop the price of stud fees to the point where it would be hard to market a stallion of less than stellar quality.) to avoiding the problems of genetic disease (e.g., something like HYPP in the Quarter Horses or CID in Arabians).  

Most people feel that the real rationale is to allow the members of the Jockey Club, people like the Phippses and Hancocks and the Klebergs and their connections, to maintain control of the priciest and best breeding stock.  

The closest the Jockey Club ever got to authorizing AI was when Contagious Equine Metritis darn near closed down the breeding industry.  CEM (which also had the nickname of "the Jubilee Clap" because of the "copious muco-purulent genital discharge" mares afflicted with it developed) was an equine STD that ran through the Kentucky farms like wildfire.  It was pointed out by many veterinary authorities that if AI was used, the spread of CEM could be stopped because s***n could be treated with antibiotics and thus mares would not be exposed to CEM at breeding.  

Close...but no cigar.  Everyone buckled down and the disease was stopped.  

FWIW, although the idea of Ruffian/Barbaro foal is intriguing, it's far from certain that any foals would be champions.  Literally every year champion racemares are bred to the best stallions, often after weeks of deliberation over the choice of mate and study of physical, pedigree and other aspects of the proposed matings.  And year after year, most of these matings result in...just horses.  Not champions, not even stakes winners in most cases, and sometimes not even winners.  Just horses.

But the magic is that the converse is sometimes true.  You breed a stallion like Ole Bob Bowers to a mare like Once Double-- very pedestrian parentage, between that mare and that stallion there were 9 races won and just $70K won-- and you get a plain small bay colt, unremarkable in appearance and apparently just a horse.

And he turns out to be John Henry.

And that's what keeps Thoroughbred breeders going.